Ortús artistic director: ‘I love what I do..but I don’t love waking up in different places’

As a professional touring musician, you have to grow up very quickly, says award-winning violinist Mairead Hickey.

Mairead co-founded the Ortús Chamber Music Festival with cellist Sinéad O’Halloran and is the artistic director of this year’s festival, which gets underway in Cork from February 21.

The violinist said she and her boyfriend (a French pianist) spoke recently about how independent they’ve had to become, often travelling on their own to play at concerts around the world. Mairead was in the U.S late last year with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. She played in New York, Philadelphia and Detroit. The tour also took in Prague, Luxembourg and Paris. Mairead is based in Paris, a city that she loves, but often only has time to do her laundry there, as she travels so much.

Despite being so busy, she says she will never be rich. “But you can be rich in other ways. It’s nice to do something you love.”

Mairead, 29, lived in Bermuda until she was seven, moving to the Lough area of Cork. Amazingly, she took up the violin at just two and a half years old.

“I had a wonderful Finnish teacher in Bermuda. I learned the Suzuki Method. It’s based on the fact that children at two can learn to talk. Dr Suzuki said if children can learn Japanese (or any language) at two, they can play an instrument at that age. I had very short lessons every day at the beginning. I started to learn music by ear, just like you would with a language. At about five, I started to learn to read music. It was part of life. My parents had to make me practise.”

When she was a teenager, Mairead decided to take music really seriously. She studied violin under the renowned Adrian Petcu from the age of seven until she was a teenager at MTU Cork School of Music.

“He is one of the top teachers of the violin. I couldn’t have asked for anyone better. He has always been really supportive, even now, in his retirement. I often run things by him.”

Mairead says that Adrian, who is Romanian, wanted his students to love music. “It’s really important to love it because it’s difficult. It requires a lot of practice, a lot of discipline, and a lot of sacrifice.”

During secondary school at Mount Mercy, Mairead spent Transition Year in Nantes, studying violin under another Romanian teacher. At 18, after her Leaving Certificate, she attended a small academy of music in Kronberg, Germany, having met yet another Romanian teacher, Mihaela Martin, at a summer master class. She advised Mairead to apply there. Mairead was taught by Mihaela in Kronberg for a number of years.

From the outside, Mairead says her career and lifestyle may seem exciting and even a little glamorous, with all the foreign travel.

“I love what I do; I love playing and rehearsing. I could rehearse all day and not get tired. But I do not like travelling and waking up in different places. I don’t like airports. I have a book with me all the time and I use ear plugs to block out the noise on the plane so I can concentrate on reading. I like to read classics and a lot of other types of novels.”

When possible, Mairead opts to travel by train for environmental reasons, but also because it is becoming more and more difficult to fly with a treasured musical instrument.

She and Sinéad have been running (with the help of their mothers) the Ortús Chamber Music Festival for 11 years.

“We had both just left Ireland to study in Germany, and we weren’t coming back that much to Cork. We thought it would be great to have something in Cork and to meet up with and play with musician friends from Ireland. And because we both travel so much, we meet all these amazing musicians. It’s really special for us to bring them to Cork so they can play here and get introduced to Cork audiences.”

The festival, which has had Arts Council funding since its inception, has been growing year by year.

This year, the festival runs from February 21 to March 1. Venues include the Aula Maxima at UCC, MTU Cork School of Music and St Peter’s.

In Cork county, there will be concerts and events at Marino Church in Bantry, Tracton Arts Centre, and Dripsey Castle Estate. There will be a special guest appearance from Simon Aspell (viola) and Christopher Marwood (cello) in recognition of their “enormous contribution to chamber music in Cork and beyond.” There will be works by Cork-born Linda Buckley and other living composers.

Mairead grew up in a musical household. Her father has played in traditional Irish bands as well as a Portuguese band. He teaches music privately and in schools. Mairead’s brother plays the viola and is based in Amsterdam, where he is studying.

Both Mairead and Sinéad are grateful to their mothers for doing a lot of the administrative work for the festival. Mairead’s mother is Clare Hatcher, and Sinéad’s mother is Karen O’Halloran.

As well as music, Mairead’s other great passion is food. She loves cooking, using ingredients that are in season and making sauces. Paris is a good base for cuisine, but Mairead admits that while she appreciates the city, she often feels homesick. That’s why the Ortús Festival brings her so much joy. It’s an excuse to come back to Cork – and play with talented international musicians.

• See www.ortusfestival.ie.